Belgium climbs strongly in the Transparency Index for development cooperation

20 June 2018

Belgium has moved up from the 27th to the 18th place in the 2018 Aid Transparency Index. Among the European Union, our country has climbed to the 7th place. The Transparency Index is produced by Publish What You Fund and measures the extent to which donors transparently communicate on their development efforts. This matters for the accountability of development efforts as well as for the effectiveness of aid and the cooperation between different development actors.

Alexander De Croo: “We are glad to see that Belgian efforts are also being noticed internationally. At the start of the legislature, Belgium was still all the way at the bottom of the “weak” category. Today, we are climbing to the “good” category. It is crucial to be transparent over the development tools that we use and the results that we achieve. Not only is the taxpayer entitled to it, it also increases effectiveness and strengthens the sustainability of the work we achieve.”

Absolute priority
Providing transparency and sharing data over development efforts is an absolute priority for Belgium. Transparency is important to be accountable about the use of public funds. It is also necessary to review the effectiveness of aid and the results of the efforts made. In addition, transparently shared data offers a better overview of projects and planning, while enabling donors to reinforce their coordination and promoting synergies.

Belgium’s climb on the Transparency Index is inter alia due to the more frequent publication of data and the increase of reporting with more attention to results. Starting this year, all NGOs will also follow the standards of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). All actors of the Belgian development policy will also be expected to communicate more on their results, whether they achieve success or failure, and to actively share knowledge.